One of Moscow's largest Jewish community centers, the Nikitskaya, was renamed today in honor of Ralph I. Goldman, one of the Jewish world's most accomplished leaders who died, at 100, in Jerusalem two weeks ago. The institution -- which opened in 2001 with support from JDC --caters to hundreds of members of the Russian capital's bustling Jewish community each month.'Throughout his long, storied life, Ralph Goldman dedicated himself to the well-being of the Jewish people and the State of Israel,' said JDC President Penny Blumenstein and JDC CEO Alan H. Gill. 'In a career spanning eight decades, he helped alleviate the tragedies that visited the Jewish people in his lifetime, and contributed to their triumphs. Renaming this institution in his honor is a fitting tribute to a man whose story was so inextricably bound with that of his people and who was one of the visionaries who helped rebuild Jewish life in Russia.
When communism fell and the Soviet Union broke apart, Kharkov’s Jewish community was faced with the huge challenge of finding all of its members scattered and hidden by decades of anti-semitism. No one could have imagined 20 years later there would be a community 40,000-strong and in need of a new JCC to serve its thriving membership.
’Tis the season! We’re excited to announce that JDC is now accepting applications for its 2011-2012 Jewish Service Corps (JSC) through March 15, 2011. This unparalleled fellowship is a year-long, paid, professional opportunity for recent college graduates and young professionals to directly engage with JDC’s global mission and to turn the Jewish value of responsibility into action through international service.
This coming Sunday, JDC proudly participates in the Global Day of Jewish Learning, reaffirming its 20-plus year relationship with Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz and his bold mission to make key sources of Jewish knowledge accessible to Jews of all backgrounds worldwide. The Global Day, a project of Steinsaltz’s Aleph Society, celebrates the completion of the Rabbi’s 45-volume annotation and translation of the Talmud into Modern Hebrew, with parts also translated into four other languages.
This past Sunday, more than 370 participants from 31 countries descended on London for the 4th Pan-European Conference of Jewish Community Centers (JCCs), Jewish Communities, and Jewish Organisations. Designed to connect Jewish leaders from geographically and culturally diverse communities, the conference effectively helped build a common ground for the future of European Jewry.
It’s not every day you see a sign promoting Jewish activities on a busy street corner in Ukraine. But this week in Kharkov, an estimated 10,000 people are experiencing the sights and sounds of Judaism in the city’s Days of Jewish Culture celebration—a project run by the local JDC-supported Beith Dan Jewish Community Center. The festival, running October 3-10, highlights the richness and variety of Jewish culture through music and dance performances, workshops, concerts, art exhibitions, and other engaging activities for all ages.
In time for Simchat Torah next week, Jewish communities in Sofia, Bulgaria and Belgrade, Serbia will each get a very special delivery about which to rejoice: a torah. The two Torahs, which were stolen by a Brooklyn man and ended up in the hands of the New York District Attorney’s office, are being donated by JDC to these Eastern European communities. In Sofia, the Torah will help replace scrolls stolen from the synagogue 10 years ago. In Belgrade, it will be the first kosher Torah used since the breakup of Yugoslavia when Jewish community assets were divided.
What do you get when you cross the largest global Jewish humanitarian organization with one of the world’s leading Jewish youth movements? (No, this is not a joke). The answer: teenagers engaged in meaningful overseas Jewish experiences that will change their lives and the lives of Jews on every continent.
“It is not more bigness that should be our goal. We must attempt, rather, to bring people back to…the warmth of community, to the worth of individual effort and responsibility…and of individuals working together as a community, to better their lives and their children’s future.” This quote, from Robert F. Kennedy, speaks to a new JDC-funded program for Russian Jews, Knafaim (wings), which seeks to build Jewish communal life by engaging young professionals with educational opportunities to learn about Jewish culture in addition to offering seminars on general management and leadership-skills building.
You can heat up that matzah-ball soup and whip up grandpa’s famous firehouse horseradish, but make room for new Passover tastes from India, Estonia, and Israel.
